Signs of the Times, Vol. 30, No. 16. (4/20/1904)

Signs of the Times

Apr 20, 1904

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Apr 20, 1904

LESSONS FROM THE STORY OF CORNELIUS.—III.

By Mrs. E. G. White

"Repentance unto Life."

BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.

IT was nearly two days before the journey to Cæsarea was ended and Cornelius had the privilege of opening his doors to a Gospel minister, who, according to the assurance of God, was to teach him and his house the way of salvation. While the messengers were upon their errand, the centurion had gathered as many of his relatives as were accessible, that they, as well as he, might be instructed in the truth. When Peter arrived, a large company were gathered, eagerly waiting to listen to his words.

As Peter entered the house of the Gentile, Cornelius did not salute him as an ordinary visitor, but as one honored of heaven, and sent to him by God. It is an Eastern custom for persons to bow before a prince or other high dignitary, and for children to bow before their parents. But Cornelius, overwhelmed with reverence for the apostle, who had been delegated by God to instruct him, fell at his feet, and worshiped him. Peter was horror-stricken, and he lifted the centurion to his feet, saying, "Stand up; I myself also am a man." He then began to talk with him familiarly, in order to remove the sense of awe and extreme reverence with which the centurion regarded him.

Hospice of St. Gotthard, on the St. Gotthard Pass.

To Cornelius and those assembled in his house, Peter spoke of the custom of the Jews, saying that it was considered unlawful for them to mingle socially with the Gentiles, and that this involved ceremonial defilement. It was not prohibited by the law of God, but the tradition of men had made it a binding custom. "Ye know," he said, "how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company, or come unto one of another nation; but God hath showed me that I should not call any man common or unclean. Therefore came I unto you without gainsaying, as soon as I was sent for; I ask therefore for what intent ye have sent for me?"

Cornelius thereupon related his experience, and the words of the angel that had appeared to him in vision. In conclusion he said: "Immediately therefore I sent to thee; and thou hast well done that thou art come. Now therefore are we all here present before God, to hear all things that are commanded thee of God."

"Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons; but in every nation he that feareth Him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with Him." Altho God had favored the Jews above all other nations, yet if they rejected light and did not live up to their profession, they were no more exalted in His esteem than other

nations. Those among the Gentiles, who, like Cornelius, feared God and worked righteousness, walking in the light they had, were kindly regarded by God, and their sincere service was accepted.

But the faith and righteousness of Cornelius could not be perfect without a knowledge of Christ; therefore God sent knowledge to him for the further development of his character. Many refuse to receive the light which God sends them, and, in excuse, quote the words of Peter to Cornelius, "In every nation he that feareth Him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with Him." They maintain that it is of no consequence what men believe, so long as their works are good. Such ones are in error. Faith and works must unite. We should advance with the light given us. If God brings us into connection with His servants who have received new truth, substantiated by His Word, we should accept this truth with joy. On the other hand, those who claim that their faith alone will save them, are trusting to a rope of sand; for faith is made perfect by good works.

To that company of attentive hearers Peter preached Christ,—His life, His miracles, His betrayal, His crucifixion, His resurrection, His ascension, and His work in heaven as man's representative and advocate. As the apostle spoke, his heart glowed with the spirit of the truth that he was presenting. His hearers were charmed by the teaching they heard; for their hearts had been prepared to receive the truth. The talk was interrupted by the descent of the Holy Spirit, as on the day of Pentecost. "And they of the circumcision that believed were amazed, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Spirit. For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered Peter, Can any man forbid the water, that these should not be baptized, who have received the Holy Spirit as well as we? And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ."

When the brethren in Judea heard that Peter had preached to the Gentiles, and had met with them, and eaten with them in their houses, they were surprised and offended. They feared that such a course, which looked to them presumptuous, would tend to contradict his own teachings. As soon as Peter visited them, they met him with severe censure, saying, "Thou wentest in to men uncircumcised, and didst eat with them."

Peter laid the whole matter before them. He related his experience in regard to the vision, and pleaded that it admonished him no longer to observe the ceremonial distinction of circumcision and uncircumcision, nor to look upon the Gentiles as unclean; for God was not a respecter of persons. He told them of the command of God to go to the Gentiles, the coming of the messengers, his journey to Cæsarea, and the meeting with Cornelius, and the company assembled at his house. His caution was made manifest from the fact that, altho commanded by God to go to the Gentile's house, he had taken with him six of the disciples, as witnesses of all he should say or do while there. He recounted the substance of his interview with Cornelius, in which the latter had told him of his vision, wherein he had been directed to send messengers to Joppa to bring Peter to him, who would speak words whereby he and all his house might be saved.

"As I began to speak," he said, in recounting his experience, "the Holy Spirit fell on them, even as on us at the beginning. And I remembered the word of the Lord, how He said, John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit. If then God gave unto them the like gift as He did also unto us, when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I, that I could withstand God?"

On hearing this account, the brethren were silenced. They were convinced that Peter's course was in direct fulfilment of the plan of God, and that their prejudices and exclusiveness were to be utterly destroyed by the Gospel. They held their peace, and glorified God, saying, "Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life."

Come, Let Us Worship

"Jehovah is a great God, And a great King above all gods. In His hand are the deep places of the earth; The heights of the mountains are His also. The sea is His, and He made it; And His hands formed the dry land. O come, let us worship and bow down, Let us kneel before Jehovah our Maker." Ps. 95: 3-6.

EVIL THOUGHTS.

By Alonzo Briggs

BY ALONZO BRIGGS.

In the human mind originate all kinds of evil. Sinful tendencies, in the beginning, are very weak and apparently insignificant; but, if not cast out, are like little foxes that destroy the vines. The apostle Paul, when speaking on charity, said that it "thinketh no evil." From this we understand that when mind and heart are filled with God's love, there will be no room for the germination and development of evil thoughts.

When Jesus, in His Sermon on the Mount, exclaimed, "Blessed are the pure in heart," He implied, also, that the mind should be untarnished by sinful thoughts. "He that deviseth to do evil shall be called a mischievous person." That is, whether he really did the evil he devised or not. The "wise man" said, "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he."

If that is the true test, evil thoughts are the possession of wicked people; pure, holy thoughts are the harbingers of good, pure, and noble actions, which constitute character. Why has there been so much said and written on the subject of impure conversation? Our words are invariably controlled by the condition of the mind, whether they be good or evil. Are not impure or evil thoughts to be greatly deplored, when from sinful thoughts come sinful words; from sinful words come evil deeds; from evil deeds come a destiny, which, without the Lord's aid and assisting grace, is equivalent to destruction? As evil communications corrupt good manners, so do corrupt minds defile and contaminate our speech.

An evil tree will always bring forth corrupt fruit; and a good tree will produce good fruit. The works of the flesh begin as minute germs in the mind. It is almost impossible for a person to retain evil in the mind without it showing itself in evil acts, either public or private. It has been said that we are not responsible to the Lord for evil thoughts; but how can we have the mind of Christ if we permit them? Is it not said in the Word, "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus"? Do not, under any circumstances, allow undesirable thoughts to creep into the mind. Let us pray that the divine mind may abide in us richly by faith.

The evil thoughts of the antediluvians, many of which developed into action, provoked the Lord's wrath, bringing destruction upon all the ungodly during the life of Noah; but the patriarch and his family, who possessed pure thoughts and motives, were saved. "The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God; God is not in all of his thoughts." "The Lord knoweth the thoughts of man, that they are vanity;" but if we have the mind of Christ, our minds will not dwell upon thoughts of evil nor our characters be formed in harmony with such thoughts.

King Solomon said: "The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination." "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon."

Morganhill, Cal.

LOVE AND LAW.

By S. H. Carnahan

A Study of the Foundation of God's Government.

BY S. H. CARNAHAN.

LOVE is its mainspring; for God is love personified. 1 John 4:8.

Had the created intelligences always kept in their hearts supreme love for their Creator, and loved their fellow creatures as themselves, it would never have been necessary for God's character to be transcribed into words, as in the Decalogue.

These became a necessity for the protection of those who would be loyal to their Creator's government. Gal. 3:19; Rom. 5:20. "Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound" (verse 20); but it is unnecessary for us to continue in sin in order to have the favor of God (Rom. 6:1, 2).

If every individual would live by the principle of love, it would be useless to enact laws. But as we know all will not, the state, in order to insure domestic tranquillity, secure the blessings of liberty, promote the general welfare, establish justice, and provide protection, must have laws.

The ten precepts, called the ten words (Ex. 34:28, margin), are a transcript of the name or character of God as epitomized in Ex. 34:4-7; and as God is, so is Christ His Son (John 14:9). Christ is the Word (John 1:1); and this Word written is not as words of man; for it is the Sword of the Spirit (Eph. 6:17). It "is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, . . . and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." Heb. 4:12.

As mankind became more depraved, in order that we might better sense God's character, this Word was made incarnate by God sending His own Son Jesus, in the likeness of sinful flesh, to be a living revelation of God's character before us. John 1:14.

Love embraces both justice and mercy; in fact, covers every attribute of God; and the two great commandments spoken of by Jesus, in Matthew 22 and Mark 12, are love to God, and love to our neighbor. The one is drawn out in detail in the first table of the Decalogue, and the other in the six precepts of the second table. Ex. 20:3-17. And Jesus declared that on these two hang all the law and the prophets. Matt. 22:40. It is because of that fact that we are admonished to teach these things and keep them before our minds constantly. See Deut. 6:4-8.

When we look into a mirror it reveals to us whether our faces are clean or unclean. So the law, when beheld, condemns the transgressor as guilty and subject to its penalty—death. Rom. 5:12; 6:23; 1 John 3:4. But to the one who has not disobeyed, it stands as a witness to his guiltlessness. James 1:25. We find, however, that every man has sinned and come short of the glory of God. Rom. 3:23. But God, being a God of mercy as well as of justice, "so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." So Jesus, our Saviour, had to die to sustain the law (1 Cor. 15:3) (for the law could not be changed, Gal. 3:21), and save subjects for God's kingdom in the earth when it is restored (2 Peter 3:13; Matt. 5:5).

The law is a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ (Gal. 3:24), and through faith His righteousness is imputed to us for our past lives (Rom. 4:2). He it is that works in us to the obedience of His law ever afterward. Phil. 2:13.

"The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul" (Ps. 19:7), and when we come to look into it, and see it as it is drawn out in detail in the Holy Scriptures, or in the living Example, then we are convinced that we are under its condemnation—guilty of death.

No sinful man can see God and live (Ex. 33:20); therefore our only alternative is: First, to live on in sin and be destroyed with the sin by the brightness of Christ's coming (2 Thess. 2:8) when He comes to gather the elect, and die the second death when He comes to set up His kingdom on the earth (Rev. 20:14; 21:8, reading the contexts); or, second, accept Jesus as the propitiation for our sins (1 John 1:2; Rom. 3:25), and submit to Him. Then He, the author of the law, will execute its penalty upon the "old man" of sin in us, crucifying him (Rom. 6:6), so that as we die to sin we may be buried with Christ by baptism into death (Rom. 6:3), and rise to walk in newness of life with Him. Thus, in the act of baptism we show our faith in Jesus, and the permanency of the law and government of God.

Likewise, whenever we, as followers of Christ, commune with Him in the ordinances of the Lord's Supper, we by that act say that we believe in the existing obligation of the law of God, for we do, as oft as we do it, show His death until He come. 1 Cor. 11:26.

The only way we grasp the plan of salvation, and lay hold upon its offers is by faith. Without faith it is impossible to please God; and if we would come to Him, we must first believe that He exists and will reward them who diligently seek Him. Heb. 11:6.

We do not make void the law by faith, but rather establish it in our own hearts. Rom. 3:31. And in the bosom of the law we find the seal (the part which makes it valid), or that which gives the name (Jehovah or God), the office (Creator), and the territory (universe) over which its Author rules. Ex. 20:8-11.

Abrogate, or destroy, this law, or even make of none effect this part of it, and you put away the greatest means for the eradication of idolatry, and the sanctification of God's people; for the Fourth Commandment calls the attention of the world to the true God—He who made heaven, earth, the sea, and all things therein—and the Sabbath, which God made of the seventh day by example, sanctification, blessing and precept, to be kept as a memorial of His power in creation, and His rest therefrom; it was also to be a sign forever to His people that it is He who doth keep and sanctify them. Gen. 2:2, 3; Eze. 20:12, 20; Ex. 31:13, 17.

Without Christ we can have no hope of salvation. Eph. 2:12. To meet God's approval in the judgment, we are required to have that faith that works by love (Gal. 5:6), for all will be judged by the law according to their work. Compare Rom. 2:12; James 2:12; Rev. 20:12, 13.

All who say, Lord, Lord, in that day will not be saved, but Christ, in His parable given in Matt. 21:28-31, shows clearly who the really obedient are. "And hereby we do know that we know Him [Christ] if we keep His commandments." "Whoso keepeth His Word, in him verily is the love of God perfected; hereby know we that we are in Him." 1 John 2:3, 5.

Godly love is the foundation and capstone of all perfection.

Elgin, Oregon.

HUMBLE SERVICE.

By Josephine Folsom

BY JOSEPHINE FOLSOM.

It is not given to me to be a tower, Shedding a gleam far o'er a troubled sea, To lift aloft a light in some dark hour, When waves of life and death beat restlessly;

Nor mine to glow, like ancient beacon-fire, Rousing the country-side to warfare brave; Lifting the standard of the cross e'er higher, Where there are foes to fight, and souls to save;

Nor e'en to be,—ah, blest of all vocations!— A steady hearth-fire, calling wanderers home, To warm cold hearts and drive away vexations, And win to rest the weary ones who roam.

Lord, I will be content if Thou wilt choose me To do some work by others left undone; If in some little mission Thou canst use me, Errands for Thee I willingly would run.

It may be as a lantern or a taper, Lighting the pathway for but one brief night; Or, humbler mission still, the flint and steel Or match, used but some stronger wick to light,

Which, when the gleam that it has kindled brightens, Transferred to tower, or hearth, or beacon-hill, Drops from the hand forgotten—falling,—lightens The outer gloom a minute; then is still.

Think you that little match has had no mission, Tho all forgotten as the work goes on, If through its influence some light has risen To guide souls up to the eternal morn?

Gladstone, N. J.

THE SCHOOL OF CHRIST—HEREAFTER.

By H. A. St. John

BY H. A. ST. JOHN.

1. Who Will Enter?—(1) All saints. (2) All ages. (3) All conditions. All saints will be accounted worthy of admission, for the reason that in the final examination or judgment they are accounted worthy, having obtained good report through faith, and having been in the primary school of Christ here. All ages who have secured such a standing will be eligible to the higher school hereafter. All conditions will be provided with an abundant entrance, regardless of what their condition may be when the time for admission shall come. Thousands will be alive, many thousands more will be sleeping in the dust of the earth, multitudes in the depths of the sea, and other multitudes have been burned, or otherwise violently destroyed; but when the higher school opens, when admission day comes, not one will be forgotten, not one left out, all will be on hand, in eager expectancy of the great promotion.

2. How Will They Enter?—(1) By a resurrection. (2) A transformation. (3) An ascension. A mighty host, as numberless as the sands upon the seashore, in the state of death, will hear the voice of the Son of God, the great Teacher, and hearing, they will live again, and come forth from the dark domains of death, and once more stand upon the earth, halting but for a moment, awaiting the second step in their wonderful matriculation into the higher school of Christ. Suddenly, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the voice of the great Teacher, and the sounding of His trumpet, every soul is transformed, changed from mortality to immortality, their corruptible, dying bodies changed and fashioned like unto the glorious and glorified body of the Lord Jesus, henceforth to shine as the brightness of the firmament, as the stars, as the sun, forever and ever. Then comes the third and last step, ascension, and admission to the place the great Teacher has long been fitting up for His higher school hereafter.

3. What Are the Schoolrooms of the Hereafter?—(1) New Jerusalem. (2) New earth. (3) Universe. Eden, or Paradise, was the first schoolroom for the human race. Adam and Eve were the first and only pupils that ever saw the inside of that lovely place. They were expelled for disobedience. We were all in that Adam when he was expelled, and, hence, we find ourselves outside of, and out of the sight of, that beautiful schoolroom, in a schoolroom where good and evil are intermingled, with the evil generally prominent and dominant.

But, praise the Lord, the higher school of the hereafter will begin with a thousand years' term in the same original and primeval schoolroom, greatly enlarged and beautified—Paradise restored—the New Jerusalem. Then all the redeemed of the Lord, accompanied by the first Adam, and led by the second Adam, will return and come to Zion, with songs and everlasting joy on their heads. The gates of that surpassingly glorious and beautiful schoolroom will be opened wide, and all successful students in the primary school of Christ on earth will have an abundant entrance, and there begin and prosecute continually and eternally a course of development and study, so pure, inspiring, elevating, and ennobling, that our most vivid conceptions here fall infinitely short of the reality. The writer wants to be there, the reader wants to be there, and we all want to be there. And we will be there, we will be there, if faithful, in a little while. And then, when the one thousand years' term in this higher school is ended, the schoolroom will be greatly enlarged by the addition of a new world, filled with all the diversified glories of a new creation, with only the handwriting of the Creator seen everywhere. No student will ever have occasion to say of anything he shall ever behold there, "An enemy hath done this." No evil will mingle with the good. And then the schoolroom will be further extended to take in the universe of God—the great university. No finite mind can measure the height and depth, the length and breadth, of man's opportunities for growth, that will be afforded him in the school of the hereafter.

4. What Will Be the Scope of Education in the Higher School?—(1) Body. (2) Soul. (3) Spirit. Immortal body, immortal soul, immortal spirit, a glorious trinity in perfect unity and eternal harmony, each part ever developing in all that pertains to the highest good of itself and all the other parts, thus the life to come will be a life of uninterrupted progression. The path of the just is a path of ever-increasing light through all the "perfect day."

5. Who Teaches in the Higher School?—(1) Christ. (2) Angels. (3) Unfallen. To all, the primary school of Christ Jesus says, "Learn of Me." And so we may ever be learning of Christ, altho we see Him not. But in the higher school of Christ, where we shall be like Him, we will see Him as He is—personal and visible association with the glorified Jesus. And then the angels, too, will be our visible companions and teachers in that higher life. And there will not the unfallen of God's creatures take delight in opening up to the saved the treasures of knowledge which they have gathered in the long centuries of their blissful lives?

6. What Will Be the Studies?—(1) Creator. (2) Creation. (3) Cross. Who by searching can find out God? We may be ever learning more and more about God, but will never learn all. But ever, as the attributes of Deity are unfolded, there will be opened new springs of adoration and love in the souls of the redeemed. And every true science will be studied continually in order to grow in the knowledge of the creation. How delightful and how fascinating will be the study of God's wonderful works, when there is no more curse, but only the handiwork and handwriting of God in all things everywhere. And then the cross of Christ, which in itself is the crowning manifestation of God's infinite love, will be the science and the song of all students in the divinity university of the hereafter.

7. What Callings Pursued?—(1) Gardeners. (2) Priests. (3) Kings. How impossible it is for us to conceive the fulness of delight that will be found in the school of Christ on the immortal shore, in the outdoor exercise afforded in the homes of the redeemed. Every such home will be a veritable Garden of Eden, under the training and keeping of the happy dwellers in that shining land. And then they will all be priests. Not to offer sacrifices for sin, or perform any service as a reminder of shame and condemnation, but as musicians and singers they will constitute a grand orchestra to lead the universe in ascriptions of praise and thanksgiving to the loving Father and Saviour of all. The sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving, the fruit of the lips, and the sacrifices of serving one another in love, the law of life for the universe, will be the blissful service of all the priest students in that higher school. And then they are kings, too. The Principal of that school will have "many crowns upon His head," and He will, indeed, be King of kings, for all His subjects will be His children by creation and redemption, and all will be kings, and each will be given a robe, and a crown of glory and immortality, that fadeth not away. As they have all suffered with Him, they shall all reign with Him. All may sit with Him in His throne. The long-lost dominion over all things in the mineral, vegetable, and animal kingdoms, given to the first man, Adam, and his posterity, will be redeemed, and restored to the second Adam and His holy seed, never again to pass out of their hands. Thus we see that in that eternal school of the hereafter all the students will be forever occupied in the study of their glorious schoolroom,—how to keep and embellish it, how to enjoy and appreciate it, and how to reign in it and rule over it; and that glorious consummation is soon to be.

LEVITICUS.

By F. D. Starr

BY F. D. STARR.

THE Gospel in the book of Leviticus may well be the topic of study for this occasion. This may possibly be a novel idea to some; but what other book in the Bible contains so full an account of those ordinances that were a "shadow of good things to come," as does this book? Where else can we find so full information concerning those sacrifices ordained of God to typify the great Sacrifice offered once for all on Calvary? Truly these divinely-appointed observances that, with the priests of that age, serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things (Heb. 8:5) are as "a shadow of a great rock in a weary land" (Isa. 32:2). Blessed shadow!

Contrast the significant offerings of Israel with the senseless and cruel sacrifices of the heathen, sacrificing to devils and not to God. 1 Cor. 10:20. Contrast the simple offerings prescribed in the Mosaic ritual with the human sacrifices, so abhorrent to God, that were offered by the Gentiles. See Deut. 12:31.

The central figure in the book of Leviticus seems to be the sublime ceremonies of the great day of atonement, so fully described in chapter 16, also in Lev. 23:26-32. The impressive act of taking two kids of the goats, and choosing one for the Lord's goat, the other for Azazel, or the devil, the sacrificing of the Lord's goat, and sending of the scapegoat into the wilderness, with all the accompanying ceremonies, were well calculated to fill the minds of the observers with awe, and thoughts of the final decisions of the judgment day.

In these services we have clear evidences that they were not of human devising. Who has not heard the question propounded, "Why does not God destroy the devil?" And if we had two animals before us, one to represent Christ and the other the devil, and one of them was to be killed, which one would men say should be put to death? Would not the decided reply be, "Kill the devil's goat"? Surely the animal that represented that arch-fiend, Satan, should be put out of existence, and the one representing the innocent and loving Jesus should, by all means, be allowed to live. That would be human reasoning. But what a failure to comprehend the divine plan of the just suffering for the unjust! No; He who knew no sin was made sin for us and suffered death for the guilty race. But finally, in the proper time, comes the destruction of Satan, the author of sin. Read the antitype of this part of the account in Revelation 20, where the final doom of the devil, the author of sin, the antitypical scapegoat, is described.

The cleansing of the sanctuary, so fully described in Leviticus 16, is a matter of the utmost importance for all believers. The definite time of the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary is given in Daniel 8:14. In order to understand this subject, due consideration must be given to this account in Leviticus 16, in connection with Hebrews 8 and 9, where we find it stated that it is necessary that the heavenly things themselves should be cleansed. This regularly-appointed day of atonement was understood by the Jews to represent the day of judgment, concerning which Paul says, in Acts 17:31, "He [God] hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world in righteousness."

In Leviticus 4, we find directions given concerning the sacrifice to be offered by the priest, the ruler, one of the common people, or for the whole congregation, when a sin of ignorance had been committed. By this it is seen that a sin of ignorance is a sin just the same, and should be confessed when brought to mind. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to bring sin to the notice of the transgressor (John 16:8), and, of course, the Spirit of God worked upon human hearts then the same as now. The Greek term answering to the word "ignorantly," repeatedly used in Leviticus 4, signifies rather, "unwillingly" or "unwittingly." This would be the case of one "overtaken in a fault." Gal. 6:1. Such is the condition of those who are misled by the "deceitfulness of sin." They do not desire to do wrong, but are for the time being deluded to think that wrong is right. In that condition was Paul when he persecuted the saints, for he could afterward say he had lived in all good conscience, and that he did it ignorantly.

In Leviticus full directions are given concerning the plague of leprosy, that acknowledged incurable disease. The leper was to experience complete cleansing from the dread malady. This was considered no less a miracle than raising the dead (see 2 Kings 5:7), and we would judge the same from our Saviour's language in Luke 4:27. It was a matter of faith in the cleansing power of the Author of all these ceremonies by which the leper was to be cleansed. So faith in Christ is shown in these rites of the Levitical law.

Those who imagine that the standard of morals for that age was different from what it is now, may find this supposition corrected by examining such passages as Lev. 19:18, 34: "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." "The stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself." So here we have the Golden Rule taught to the people of that age. The great moral principles of God's government remain ever the same.

The book closes with instruction concerning the tithing system. Lev. 27:30-34. This is God's plan for supporting His work. It was not Jewish, for it antedates the existence of the Jews, being practised by Abraham and Jacob. Gen. 14:20; 28:22. It is not yet obsolete, for it was enjoined by our Saviour. Matt. 23:23; Heb. 7:8.

We close this book with devout gratitude to God that it so distinctly calls the attention to the great Antitype.

SALUTATIONS IN THE LORD.

By S. S. Times

SALUTES may be anything from a kiss to the roar of a hundred cannon. They may be given in formality, they may be given in carelessness, they may be given in pride, or even in dislike and hate. But there is a short epistle in the New Testament, one written by a person of whom we otherwise know nothing; it is the epistle by Tertius, Paul's amanuensis. He slips it in on his own account while he is writing, as a scribe, Paul's letter to the Romans. And in this epistle by Tertius we are told of the salute in the Lord. This must be a greeting which carries with it a sense of brotherhood, a prayer for blessing, and an offer of kindness. When men can put that into the grasp of their hands, or the touching of their hats, or the thundering of their guns, what new meanings there will be in the salutations of mankind! God hasten the day when the spirit of an unknown saint shall spread into all the greetings of the world.—S. S. Times.

BRINGING OUT THE MUSIC.

ONE of Frances Ridley Havergal's poems tells of an Eolian harp which a friend sent with a letter, describing the wonderful sweetness of the tones. Miss Havergal took the harp and thrummed its seven strings, but there was no thrilling strains, only common music. She then read the letter again, and found instructions that she had overlooked at first. Then she raised the window and put the harp under the sash. Now the wind swept over the strings and the room was filled with melodious strains, which no fingers of man could have procured. Only when the breath of heaven blew upon the harp could its marvelous music be brought out. The human soul is such a harp. Human fingers call out much that is lovely and sweet, but it is only when its chords are swept by the breath of heaven, by the Holy Spirit, that its noblest music is called out.—Christian Herald.

Continue reading: THROUGH FAITH TO LIFE